Penalty for illegal landfill at Burton
A man has been convicted and fined for operating an illegal landfill contrary to the Environment Protection Act 1993.
In the Environment, Resources and Development Court Her Honour Judge Sutcliffe convicted Trevor Coghlan for one count of undertaking a prescribed activity of environmental significance without a licence. The conduct of this activity is contrary to s.36(1) and clause (3)(a) of part A of Schedule 1 of the Environment Protection Act 1993.
Mr Coghlan entered a guilty plea. The Court imposed a conviction and a penalty.
The penalty is the result of an investigation by the EPA.
The charge relates to the use of land and premises at Burton to store a large volume of waste. Between 14 April 2020 to 1 October 2020, Mr Coghlan accumulated numerous bales of waste, containing a mixture of plastics and paper, which were wrapped in black plastic and stored in an open area at the property. By October 2020, almost all the available area within the site was occupied with bundles of waste.
The storage and stockpiling of waste is a prescribed activity of environmental significance. As such, it requires an environmental authorisation (EPA licence) for a person to undertake the activity lawfully.
Mr Coghlan was the occupier of the site, and did not hold a licence, exemption or any other document that provided him with the authorisation needed to operate a depot for the storage of waste.
In sentencing, Judge Sutcliffe said Mr Coghlan’s conduct was very serious because it was motivated by a desire to profit, undertaken in the knowledge a licence was required and shortly after a penalty had been imposed for the same offence.
Her Honour said that Mr Coghlan’s age and poor health meant his risk of reoffending in the same way was low, but his criminal history demonstrated a general disregard towards compliance with his legal obligations and that his personal deterrence still had a role to play in sentencing.
Judge Sutcliffe stated that she would have started with a penalty in the vicinity of $25,000 but she was satisfied Mr Coghlan would be unable to comply with that order and, having regard to s.120 of the Sentencing Act and his limited income and liabilities for existing fines of $142,000, she discounted it to $4,200.
EPA Manager of Investigations and Incident Management Kelly Clarke said that the criminal conviction for this matter sends a clear message to those who seek operate sites without an appropriate EPA licence.
The Act provides a maximum penalty of $120,000 for a business and $60,000 for an individual.
Ms Clarke says that the EPA is currently undertaking a significant intelligence activity to try and identify sites that are operating in South Australia without an EPA licence.
She encouraged people who are unsure of their environmental obligations to contact the EPA by telephone on 08 8204 2004 or email: EPALicensing@sa.gov.au